The Concussion
by MzFangtastic
Summary: An injury on the stairs triggers a strange side of Sheldon. Could it be compassion? Love? And how long will it last? R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Sheldon ran down the stairs as fast as he could. He and Amy were going to the movies and he had to get there fast so he could find the acoustic sweet spot before that seat was taken. He ran down two flights of stairs before tripping and tumbling down head first. Suddenly everything went black.

When he came to, he was in the hospital. "Have these sheets been cleaned?" he asked shooting up, repulsed by the publicly used linen. "Oh look he's awake. How unfortunate," Sheldon heard someone mutter, than looked around to see that Leonard, Raj, Howard, Bernadette, and Penny were all there. Only one person was missing. "Where's Amy?" he asked. "Don't you wanna know what happened?" Penny asked in reply. "The last thing I remember is running down the stairs; Now I'm in the hospital. So I can conclude I injured myself on the stairs."

This rewarded the physicist with what he was sure were looks of envy from his companinons. "I can also conclude from this woozy feeling and the pounding in my head I have a small concussion." Leonard shook his head. "Yes. The doctor says you can return home after they've done some tests to make sure that's all that's wrong." Sheldon nodded. "Well then, we should be leaving within the hour," Sheldon said trying to avoid contact with the pillow beneath him.

"Actually, Sheldon we all have to get back to work. We just came to make sure you were okay," Howard informed him. "Amy's on her way now, though. She'll take you home," Penny added comfortingly. "Speaking of which, you should thank Penny, Sheldon. She found you and called the ambulance," Leonard said. "Thankyou Penny for remembering what numbers get the flashing lights to come," Sheldon offered. Knowing from experience this what all she was going to get, Penny nodded. "You're welcome sweetie," she said as they left.

A while later, Amy walked in armed with a can of Lysol. "I figured you'd be needing this," she said handing it to him. "Amy Farrah Fowler, you're perfect you know that?" Sheldon exclaimed spraying every part of the bed and his clothes with the disinfectant spray. "I try," she answered sounding self-satisfied. "Well the doctors have decided I'm okay to go home. The morons; I could've told them that," Sheldon said shaking his head dissapprovingly. "I'm sure. Ready to go?" He nodded and the two germophobic scientists carefully left the disease infested hospital.

**A/N: Well, there goes my attempt at a BBT fanfic. What do you think? Keep going, or quit while I'm ahead? Also, I'm sorry if the dialogue doesn't sound real. It's hard to capture adult genius vocabulary and speech when your still in high school**


	2. Chapter 2

"Well here we are. Home sweet home," Amy said leading Sheldon into his and Leonard's shared appartment. "Once again, thank you for driving me home. Would you like anything?" Shelodn asked walking into the kitchen. "No, thanks. I should get back to the lab before the monkeys in the nicotine study trash the entire lab." Sheldon nodded. "Well, goodbye then," he answered. "Goodbye." Amy turned to leave when Sheldon hugged her. Not the forced, awkward kind either. A real hug. _Well, that was different _Amy thought thought as she walked out.

It was comic book night, so of course like clockwork Sheldon was waiting impatiently in the living room at 6:30. "Oh, what is taking him so long?" he mumbled to himself and made his way to Leonard's bedroom. "Leonard!" _Knock knock knock _"Leonard!" _Knock knock knock _"Leonard!" Leonard finally opened the door looking irritated. "What?" he demanded. "What do you mean what? It's 6:30 on Thursady. Walowitz and Kuthrapali are probably waiting for us by now!"

Realization spread over Leonard's face. "It's comic book and pizza night isn't it?" He sighed. "Come on, let's go." Sheldon followed behind him. "How could you forget? We've only been doing this for so long," Shelodn said, and began to rant about the routine of each day of the week, and how according to the roomate agreement they had to abide by that schedule. He was still going on when they ran into Penny coming in still in her waitress uniform.

"You forgot what day it is huh?" she said. "Yeah. It's comic book night. You're welcome to join us," Leonard offered. Penny smiled. "Sure." Sheldon crossed his arms. "Oh great. Need I remind you of what happened the_ last _time your ex accompanied us to the comic book store?" he said pointedly. "Unless you're planning to take the bus to the comic book store, no you need not remind me of what happened last time." This seemed to shut Sheldon up. Leonard, feeling accomplished opened the door and the trio led themselves out into the cool night.

When they got to the comic book store, Howard and Raj were at the register getting the latest fan pack. "There you guys are. I was beginning to think-" Raj started and then stopped as soon as he saw Penny. This was met by a collective, knowing sigh. Raj couldn't speak in the prescence of a woman unless intoxicated or drugged. "Nice to see you too Raj," Penny said nodding.

Meanwhile, Sheldon was scanning for a comic book he _didn't_ have. He finally found one, but when he looked up a young boy was holding on to it too. "I'm sorry. It's just I have all the Batman comics except this one," the boy said looking up hopefully. "Well so do I," Sheldon challenegd, but... Something about robbing the child of the comic seemed wrong. "Here. I'll find another one," Sheldon said handing it over.

"Thanks so much!" the child said running off happily. "Well, that was awfully nice of you," Penny said coming up behind him. "He needed it more than I do," Sheldon said modestly. "Generosity... Modesty... How hard did you hit your head?" Leonard asked. "I don't see why you're all so shocked," Sheldon argued defensively. "Oh no reason. Just a selfish arrogant know-it-all has suddely turned to Mr. Nice Guy," Howard said shrugging.

"Give him a break guys;He just got out of the hospital," Leonard pointed out. Everyone reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Wonderful. Now, let's go home. I want to order pizza before 8:00." Leonard shook his head. "See? There he is. Come on, we can eat at my place."


	3. Chapter 3

That night, Sheldon was overcome with a wave of insomnia. He laid in bed staring at the ceiling and began to name the elements of the periodic table. "Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, beryllium..." He trailed off in frustration. It was no use. The frustrated physicist looked over at his alarm clock. 3 AM. SIghing, he got up and booted up his laptop. He sent a video chat request to Amy and watched the screen intently. A few minutes later, Amy's tired face appeared on the screen. "Good morning Amy Farrah Fowler," Sheldon said smiling. "Sheldon it's 3 in the morning. What are you still doing up?" Sheldon shrugged. "I can't sleep," he admitted. "And what do you expect me to do about that?" Amy asked. "...I don't know," Sheldon replied with a puzzled look on his face.

"I know Soft Kitty is only for when you're sick, but do you think that would help?" Amy suggested. "No I don't think so. Maybe I'll make a cup of tea," Sheldon mused getting up. "Okay. Good night," Amy started to say. "Wait!" Sheldon called quickly. "Yes?" Amy prompted. "Stay. Please?" Amy sighed. "Fine. But you owe me for this," the exhausted neurologist warned. "Well I suppose that's fair. WHy don't you let me take you out to lunch tomorrow," Sheldon suggested carrying his laptop in to the kitchen and setting it down on the counter. "You're going to leave work for lunch? For me?" Amy asked incredulously. Sheldon simply nodded as he sat and nursed his tea. "Well okay if you want," Amy said slightly confused. Lunch together on a day other than Date Night? That was different.

"Sleepy yet?" Amy asked yawning. "No. I don't know what it is today. I just can't sleep," Sheldon sighed, placing his mug in the sink. "Did you try naming the elements?" Amy asked. She didn't want to leave Sheldon alone, but she was already starting to drift off. "Yes, but not even the simplicity of the periodic table is relaxing me enough to sleep," Sheldon replied. "All right. You're room. Go," Amy instructed. Sheldon looked puzzled, but obeyed and climbed into bed, his laptop on his lap. "Now what?" he asked. "Want to play alternate universe?" Amy asked. "Okay. In a post apocalyptic society, where would we be living?" he asked. "Um... Hiding out in Manhattan. Only the upper east side has survived the apocalypse and the rest of the world is deteriorating back into forest land," Amy answered quickly. "Correct," Sheldon said excitedly, "Okay now give me one." The couple continued the game for another hour or so creating any scenario they could think of.

"The sun is rising," Amy pointed out. Sheldon yawned in response. "But I still can't sleep," he added. Amy laughed. "Come on lay down. We can play alternate universe any time; Right now the two of us need to get some sleep." Sheldon made a face, but obeyed. "Amy," he said after a second. "Mm?" she replied tiredly. "Sing soft kitty," he requested. _"Soft kitty warm kitty little ball of fur.."_ Amy trailed off noticing he'd fallen asleep. "Good night Sheldon," she whispered closing her laptop and going to bed.

**A/N: I'm baaack! Hopefully you didn't forget about this I know it's been forever since I've updated. Sorry about that! Anyway this is only a filler chapter. I'm going to start making longer chapters soon don't worry. Comments are always appreciated.. ;) :) Thanks for reading! 3 3**


	4. The Lunch Date

The next day, Sheldon made a brief stop by the cafeteria to announce his plans for the day to his friends. He was sure they'd miss him, but he owed Amy. "I am taking the bus to meet Amy Farrah Fowler for lunch," he announced. "Really? But you never leave work unless it's absolutely necessary," Howard pointed out. "Just let him go," Leonard muttered. Howard shrugged indifferently. "Don't worry. I'll be back soon," Sheldon said zipping up his jacket. "Too soon," Leonard replied as he left.

Sheldon arrived at Amy's lab shortly. "Amy!"_ Knock knock knock_. "Amy!" _Knock knock knock_. "Amy!" Patiently, Amy waited for Sheldon to finish knocking before opening the door. "Good afternoon Amy," he said walking in. "Hi Sheldon. Do you want to eat here or do you want to go out?" Amy asked in reply. "Whatever you want," Sheldon answered shrugging. "Okay. We can to the Cheesecake Factory," Amy suggested tentatively. Sheldon agreed much to Amy's surprise and the pair headed to the restaurant where Penny worked.

The Cheesecake Factory was filled with couples, families, and workers. The scent of bread and cake filled the air. The couple was seated and flipped through their menus. "So how's your day been?" Sheldon asked. "Fine, thank you," Amy replied still trying to process this new side of Sheldon. "I'm glad to hear it. Did you finish that thesis you were writing on?" Amy stared at Sheldon for a moment. What could have caused this change in him? He had been a completely different person since.. Since he fell! "Amy? Amy are you listening to me?" Sheldon asked impatiently. "Hm? Oh sorry Sheldon. Yes I did. Thank you for asking." Sheldon nodded slightly before waving the waitress over.

"What about you? How's work?" Amy asked, feeling awkward having Sheldon's undivided attention for once. "Work is the same. Forced to mingle with a bunch of trained labradoodles." Amy smiled. Some things never changed. Sheldon gave the waitress his usual complicated order and Amy's favorite meal. "Did you just order for me?" she asked shocked as the waitress sauntered away. "Yes. That was what you wanted right?" Sheldon asked. "Well, yes but.. wait-how did you know that's what I wanted?" Amy asked in response. "It's your favorite. You get it every other time we come here. Honestly Amy, what is with you today?" Sheldon asked.

"What's my favorite color?" Amy asked curiously. "Green. You're being completely ridiculous. I've known you long enough to have acquired trivial knowledge about you." Amy nodded distracted. Of course they'd known each other long enough. She knew every hobby, habit, favorite, and preference of Sheldon Cooper. She just didn't think he paid the same amount of attention to her. Unless she was sick or mad at hom of course, but that's just the way Sheldon's mind worked.. Or used to work? Amy had no idea, but the neurologist in her was fascinated. "What are you thinking about?" Sheldon asked disrupting her thoughts.

"Nothing," Amy answered automatically. "Your looking down to the right, your eyebrows are drawn together, and your lips are pursed. I can tell your both confused and fascinated by something," Sheldon analyzed as the waitress set their food in front of them. Suddenly and idea popped into Amy's head. "I wonder.." she mused aloud standing up. She walked over to Sheldon and wrapped her arms around him from behind. He tensed, but didn't move. Still testing her theory, Amy risked a quick kiss to his neck. "Amy please stop whatever you're doing and go eat;Your lunch is going to get cold." Satisfied for the moment, Amy sat back down across from him. Sheldon looked bewildered and confused, but made no move to disinfect himself. Taking this as a small victory, Amy smiled and returned to her lunch.

After their lunch date, Amy drove Sheldon back to work. She risked another kiss, to his cheek this time. "Why do keep doing that?" he asked. "Do you mind?" she asked in reply. "Well it's not in the relationship agreement, but... I guess not." Amy smiled. "I thought so. Good bye Dr. Cooper," she said happily driving off. "My father was right. Women are nothing but trouble," Sheldon observed to himself before going inside.


End file.
